Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Zhang Pu was a man with a strong sense of self. When Zhu Youjian saw him, he thought of the passionate young men of later generations, which was why he always treated Zhang Pu differently.

This person is idealistic, ambitious, talented, and has strong organizational skills.

Given the space to maneuver, this person can stir up a storm.

This applies to the newspaper industry, labor associations, factory management... No matter what he's asked to do, he can break the deadlock.

Now that he has obtained the word "science" personally written by the emperor, he naturally wants to stir up trouble.

He wanted to show everyone that, besides Hanlin, there was another top-tier academic journal.

After leaving the palace, Zhang Pu invited Liu Lishun to speak:

"I have long read Liu Gong's great treatise on serving the people."

"If all officials in the world were like Lord Liu, how could we not achieve great harmony?"

"When you have time, Mr. Liu must go to the Academy of Management Sciences and explain to our researchers what administrative management is."

This is also one of the key research areas of the School of Management Science, including social organizations and administrative offices. They have dedicated institutes for social management and public administration, which are being established together with the Institute of Business Management.

Zhang Pu sees Liu Lishun's service-oriented government concept as falling under the category of administrative management, and plans to establish a research project on this topic.

Liu Lishun was quite pleased that his ideas had been recognized. He had recently faced considerable criticism because of this article, written at the emperor's behest.

However, he personally oversaw the construction of the City God Temple for Hai Rui in the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area, and he strongly agreed with this concept. He felt that officials should not merely shout "serving the people," but should also solicit public opinion and truly establish the concept of serving the people.

Therefore, he has no regrets about writing this article.

It's a pity that another article I painstakingly wrote was not published in the first issue of "Hanlin".

He said to Zhang Pu:

"Last year, I discussed the election by drawing lots with my younger brother, and I gained a lot from it."

"This method was used in the preparation of the council for the Suzhou-Songjiang New Area this year."

"I originally intended to publish this method in the Hanlin Journal, but the Emperor chose another article instead. This article on the lottery selection will have to wait until the next issue."

Unpublished articles?

Zhang Pu's breath hitched, and he keenly sensed that this was his opportunity.

The journal he plans to create, "Science," is intended to be comparable to "Hanlin."

Although the emperor did not specify a timeframe, he himself wanted it to be completed this year, so as not to lag behind "Hanlin" in terms of its launch date.

However, compared to the "Hanlin" magazine, which was started at the beginning of the year, he started too late.

It is difficult to find so many high-quality articles in such a short time compared to the first issue of "Hanlin".

Upon hearing Liu Lishun's words, Zhang Pu hurriedly said:

"Elections by drawing lots involve probability."

"This is a research direction that His Majesty has ordered the Mathematical Academy to pursue, and the Academy can provide support."

"If Mr. Liu is willing to help, I will establish a research laboratory for the probability of drawing lots at the Institute of Applied Mathematics of the School of Mathematics to specifically study this problem."

I explained the concept of probability to Liu Lishun, which shows the likelihood of an event occurring.

This has applications in weapons production. For example, the secondary firing of flintlock muskets is necessary because the success rate of the first firing is not high, and a second firing is needed to increase the probability.

Of course, since flintlock muskets had been phased out in the Ming Dynasty, this research direction was not popular; it was more about exploring ways to increase the probability of something happening.

Those researchers now have a new toy: randomly loading one or more bullets into the six chambers of a revolver and calculating the probability of it firing when the trigger is pulled.

Some people even use dice and other gambling tools to study probability problems.

These were all minor matters. What truly concerned Zhang Pu was the widespread use of the lottery system in the Ming Dynasty. Besides selecting officials, it was already being used in the elections of associations and trade unions. The future use of the lottery system to elect councilors was an even bigger concern for everyone.

This research direction will remain popular and deserves a dedicated research lab in the School of Mathematics.

Upon hearing Zhang Pu's words, Liu Lishun was indeed quite concerned and remarked with deep emotion:

"The odds of drawing lots can actually be calculated; mathematics is indeed a profound subject."

"There is indeed a reason why it can be one of the six arts of a gentleman."

"Please feel free to correct this article, my dear brother, and continue to study and improve it."

I promised Zhang Pu that I would publish the article in Science as a scientific research paper.

Zhang Pu was overjoyed and hurriedly thanked Liu Lishun, agreeing to give a lecture when he had time and to study and discuss the topic together.
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Then he quickly returned to his residence and found Chen Zilong, saying:

"Zilong, look what I got!"

"The Emperor himself inscribed the two characters 'Science'!"

These two characters were deliberately practiced by Zhu Youjian, and they were written in a grand and majestic style, seemingly containing countless truths.

Chen Zilong took a liking to it at first sight and exclaimed happily:

"Now our knowledge can be considered a prominent field of study."

"Even Qian Muzhai's practical learning was not inscribed by His Majesty."

Zhang Pu laughed heartily:

"These two words are not for our school of thought, but for the Academy of Sciences, or more accurately, for the journal Science."

"His Majesty hopes that the academic community will not only be dominated by the Hanlin Academy, but will also have competition from the Science Academy."

"Our Chinese Academy of Sciences, like the Hanlin Academy, serves as the think tank of the National Development and Reform Commission, and we must demonstrate our abilities."

"I plan to publish the first issue of Science this year."

Upon hearing Zhang Pu's ambition, Chen Zilong naturally supported him, but he also expressed his concerns:
"There are only two weeks left until the end of the year. Is that enough time?"

"If you include the time for typesetting and printing, we need to finalize the draft within ten days."

"To produce nine articles comparable to 'Hanlin' within ten days is truly..."

Shaking his head, Chen Zilong didn't say it was impossible, but he didn't think it was achievable.

Zhang Pu smiled mysteriously, took out a manuscript, and said to Chen Zilong:
"Take a look, what is this?"

"You don't think I've been working in a factory for the past six months without doing any academic work, do you?"

"This is my 'On Science' written according to Your Majesty's teachings. After Your Majesty's revisions, it has been basically finalized."

"It can be used as a first-phase paper in science."

This was Zhang Pu's masterpiece, which he had painstakingly prepared and intended to lay the foundation for science.

He originally intended to publish it in Ming Pao, but now it seems more appropriate to publish it in the first issue of Science.

Chen Zilong eagerly read the article and immediately exclaimed how wonderful it was.

This article starts with the shape of the character “科” (kē) and explains the first meaning of science: the knowledge of measuring grains.

Then, the concept of measurement was extended to mathematics, with the belief that mathematical language could be used to understand the essence of things and explain the laws governing all things.

Finally, the text mentions the division of disciplines, further subdividing various fields of study. Natural sciences, social sciences, history, humanities, and more can all be included within the realm of science.

The article's grand scale far exceeded the scope of Western learning they had acquired from Xu Guangqi, and Chen Zilong believed it could lay the foundation for science. (End of Chapter)